The Los Angeles Lakers' front office made a promise to Luka Doncic that it can no longer keep. According to ESPN's Dave McMenamin, who spoke with a source close to Doncic, the Lakers told Luka when they traded for him that the summer of 2026 would be the time that LA would be able to build a championship squad around Doncic.
"Luka wants to be a championship team yesterday," McMenamin's source said. "Ever since the trade, they've always told us: 'summer of '26. We'll show you in the summer of '26.' So, we are so excited that the summer of '26 is here."
Lakers' promise to Luka Doncic was great in theory, but it fell apart in practice
When the Lakers made the above promise to Doncic, they certainly must've assumed that LeBron James would be out of the Lakers' picture by now. However, that doesn't look to be the case, which diminishes LA's cap space substantially (if Bron does indeed return).
Austin Reaves' max-salary future was also not necessarily guaranteed back in February 2025 when the Lakers acquired Doncic. Although Reaves' cap hold is only about $21 million right now, the Lakers -- while shopping on the offseason market -- must account for AR's imminent new deal, which will likely account for something in the realm of a $40 million AAV (or slightly more).
Austin Reaves and LeBron James' returns prevent the Lakers from building a deep roster
How is LA supposed to afford a deep, championship roster if they are giving big deals to James and Reaves this summer? That's actually an impossible question that Rob Pelinka cannot answer.
Perhaps to say the Lakers completely botched their promise to Luka would be too harsh, but it's certainly become a delayed promise. This summer isn't going to be the time that the Lakers magically turn into a contender using the free-agent and trade markets. Rather, if the Lake Show wants to construct a contender around Luka, it's going to take at least four or five more transaction cycles, which equates to two or three seasons at least, sort of like what the New York Knicks did between 2022 and this season.
You can call the Lakers' promise to Luka a lie, or you can just acknowledge that LA meant it in the moment, but circumstances have changed since then. LeBron's ridiculous longevity/enduring excellence is the main force that drove a wedge into the Lakers' 2026 plans -- plans that were designed to keep Luka happy.
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